The Art of War has been treasured and passed down for 2,500 years. It is the foundation of all modern military and business strategy. Spreading from China to Europe and the rest of the world, the principles of strategy that it teaches continue to transform our planet.

Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) wrote the original text shortly before 510 BC. He is a man of mystery. "Sun Tzu" (Sunzi in Pinyin) means simply "Master Sun" in Chinese. Historically, his name was Sun Wu. He lived and worked as a general before China was united by the first Qin emperor. We provide information about the key events of his era here.

After his death, his text played a large role in shaping ancient China's history. Its introduction led eventually to the unification of China and, strangely enough, to the virtual elimination of the types of destructive wars that plagued Europe. 

The area in which Sun Tzu's philosophy is taught most consistently is in the Asian martial arts, where its ideas have been preserved throughout martial arts history. In the original Chinese, Sun Tzu's work is known as Bing-fa, which can be translated as "martial arts."